Rice -
Nevada week '03
Rice 52, University of Nevada 42
Owls to Nevada:
'You're Herminated'
Huge game by Kyle Herm sparks offense, as
defense scores twice in second half to seal win
Kyle Herm kept Rice offense on the go from opening gun
'til final whistle as the Owls ran up the points against Nevada -- and they needed every
durn one of 'em |
HOUSTON (Nov. 1) -- OK, everybody, it's safe to breathe, now.
A rejuvenated Kyle Herm was the hero from start to finish this sunny, humid afternoon,
leading his Rice Owl offense to a 500-yard day, running for 186 yards himself, passing
8-for-10 for 142 including two big touchdown strikes, and capping off the day with -- move
over, Dickie Maegle -- a 95-yard TD run as the Feathered Flock
outlasted an equally pugnacious University of Nevada Wolfpack offense, 52-42, in a
heart-stopping, fifteen-round, heavyweight bout of a football game at Rice Stadium
Saturday.
But, porous as it was for the entire day, it was the Rice defense that had the last
word and sealed the much-overdue Institute win. Owl defenders converted two forced
turnovers into instant touchdowns to provide the margin of victory and hold off a Nevada
Wolf Pack offense that was so hard to kill it needed a silver bullet administered by a Man
of the Cloth to put it away.
With Rice up only by 45-42 and with 1:57 to play, Nevada appeared to be marching
for the winning touchdown as the Pack reached the Rice 36 yard line, showing no signs of
letting up. A tired, but game Rice defense had been able to bottle up the big play, but
was seemingly helpless to prevent the UN offensive machine from working its running game
eight to ten yards at a clip.
But when Nevada's Talib Wise twisted for extra yardage after picking up five to
the Owl 31, the ball popped loose and Rice senior free safety Raymorris Barnes alertly
snatched it up. He juked past a stunned Nevada QB Andy Heiser, and, as his defensive
coaches yelled out, 'fall down -- fall down!' on the sideline, he decided, 'to heck with
that', and, picking up blockers as he went, threaded his way
downfield for 69 yards to the end zone as the Rice bench erupted.
The Wolf Pack offense had played like werewolves all day, but Barnes, an
ordained minister back home in Mississippi, put the silver bullet into their collective
heart with that stunning TD return.
Earlier, in the third quarter, the Rice defense had snatched another score from
the hands of the Nevada offense when Owl DB Terry Holley forced an
interception in heavy traffic at the Nevada 22 and zipped into the end zone for a TD
that put the Owls up, 31-28.
Nevada had pushed to a 5-2 season and 3-1 WAC record partly on the strength of
its league-leading turnover margin, whereas we all know where the Owls stood on that
statistic – dead last. What a difference a couple of key TO’s can make –
especially if your man is alert enough to take it to paydirt.
Raymorris, always quick to laud his mates, chalked up his big play to team
effort."It was just the end product," he told press afterwards. "We’d
been working all week on turnover drills, where the guys try to strip the ball. This time,
the ball was on the ground and I happened to be at the right place at the right time.
There were so many blocks and so many people that didn't give up – and I was just
able to follow it all the way to the end."
Terry Holley, who appears to be improving measurably, every game, said that his
pick for a toudchdown and Raymorris’ fumble return made the fact that the Owls gave
up 42 points and 530-some yards a bit easier to accept. "Giving up that many points,
that many yards is a hard pill to swallow when you try and take pride in your
defense," he said.
"But we've got a team motto on defense – we play each play like it's
the last play. You forget about the previous play. Today, I’d just given a touchdown
on a pass play in the end zone and so I just forgot about it and tried to play with a calm
head. The ball just came my way and I took it to the end zone."
Owl defensive highlights aside, this game all about
offense
Marcus Rucker gets handoff and dives for yardage |
But enough about defense. It fact, in this game, when one talks about defensive
highlights – that’s about it. The rest of the time, it was all offense.
Nevada took the opening kickoff and delivered a clear presentiment of its plans for the
day by delivering a well-executed, 15- play, 80-yard TD drive that featured the kind of
clever play-calling that Owl fans would like to see more often out of their cerebral
Flock.
To-wit: On third and four from the Nevada 26, Pack QB Jeff Heiser executed a
quarterback draw that nobody was expecting; it went for 14 yards and got their first drive
of the day in gear. Next play, then, on first down, came the play-action pass to Tim
Fleming that set up the Pack at midfield.
Moments later, on fourth and one from the Rice 38, Heiser went to ace running back
Chance Kretschmer who slanted outside for seven yards and a first down. The hard-running
Kretschmer is just extremely hard to bring down – and the Owl defenders popped and
glanced off him all day (well, almost all day) as he rolled for 126 yards and
left onlookers wondering why he didn’t get the play call more often.
Kretschmer proved that quality again, seconds later, bulling over for the score on
first and goal from the Rice eight yard line.
After such an inauspicious beginning, the Owls – and their fans – were in
desperate need of something up-beat in the way of offensive production, lest the game get
out of hand early. And they got it.
Last week, the Owls, behind Kyle Herm, threw the ball only four times,
completing only one pass, in their narrow, 31-28 loss on the road to Fresno State.
And when the Flock’s one, demonstrated big - play receiver in Marcus Battle turned
up in his blue jeans on the sideline prior to kickoff, it made sense for Nevada coach Dick
Tormey to assume that Ken Hatfield would do nothing but revert to form against a Nevada
defense that had had its trouble stopping the run.
So that’s why the Owls, it seems, came out a’chunking.
Three-play, all-passing drive an 'all-time
first' for Ken Hatfield
Terry Holley comes down with his big interception and
turns it toward the goal line |
In what, indeed, was admitted to by Coach Hatfield as "an all-time
first" first for his staff, the Owls blew down the field 80 yards for the score on
their first possession – all through the air, and in three plays, to boot.
"We felt they were going to overplay the run, which they did," Coach Hatfield
said. "They know we don't throw it much."
"We looked at it and knew what they had done before," Coach added.
"We thought there would be good plays if they lined up where we thought they would
be."
First play was a quick-drop, down-and-out route to – gasp! – tight end Joe
Don Wood , who hauled in the ball on the east sideline about ten yards
downfield and rambled for 19 more and a first down at midfield.
Next came the play action pass to a well-covered John Brock who leapt
high and brought the ball down for a 29-yard gain. That brought the smallish Rice
crowd to life in a hurry.
Hey, no way the Hat was going to try that again, with a first down at the Nevada 22,
right?
Wrong! This time, the Owl tight end circled toward the flag and was wide open in the
west corner of the end zone, where Kyle looped a soft one to Joe Don and he wrapped it up
for the TD – and the Owls had made quite an offensive opening statement, themselves.
"It was something we'd been working on all week, just to come out and surprise
them," Wood told reporters after the game.
That, it did.
Nevada came out in split-six defensive alignment --
didn't work
Robbie Beck finds a hole and cuts upfield on (one
of) Owls' third-quarter TD drives |
Nevada had come out with an unusual, you could almost say, weird-looking,
split-six defense that put nine men in the box, but divvied up a pair of triple down
linemen with a gap in the middle over center.
Early in the game, Kyle just took what that defensive set gave him, hitting the
fullback dive and the keeper for consistent yardage up the gut.
In the second half, when the Nevada line compensated by tightening up or bringing in
linebackers to clog the middle, the Owl signal -caller took his option wide, where he and
frosh running back Thomas Lott were able to chew up yardage just the same, play after
play.
Thomas gained 128 yards on the night in 12 carries, including a 22 - yard, third
quarter touchdown run where he appeared to line up on the wrong side of the backfield. But
Herm and his linemen were sufficiently alert to mirror-image their assignments and pave
the way for Junior to fairly waltz into the end zone.
After redshirt frosh teammate Quinton Smith rushed for 142 yards against Fresno, T.
wasn’t even penciled in as the starter. But Q. pulled up lame after his one
carry early in the game – something about an ankle turn suffered during pregame
workouts – and in his place, the 5-8, 185 Plano High graduate demonstrated speed and
flash outside in going for his second, 100-yard game of the season.
The Rice offense appeared to make adjustments, mix up their plays, and stick to their
assignments all day – and it showed on the scoreboard. The Owls scored on eight of 13
possessions in the game – really, eight of 11 if you don’t count the knee-takers
at the end of the half and the game.
With the score tied 7-7, first quarter, after the Owl defense had put up their first of
only two three- and- outs of the day, the Herminator wasted no time in getting the
Rice offense up and running again.
This time, the Owls did revert to form, staying on the ground for a 61-yard, 13-play
drive that culminated in a 28-yard, Brennan Landry field goal.
Owls, Nevada traded scores like boxers in a clinch
Dustin Haynes hangs on to bring down Nevada wide
receiver after short gain |
Like prize fighters in a clinch, the Owls and the Wolf Pack traded scores, each
time moving the ball in such convincing fashion that the event gave each team’s fans
reason to expect that their heroes might just take over the game – if they
were only able to exhibit an itty-bit of defensive spark in addition to the offensive
fire.
Nevada first regained the lead at 14-10 with a 38-yard TD strike, Jeff
Heiser to Maurice Mann, the culmination of a 61-yard, seven-play drive. On the TD pass,
Mann had drifted behind Owl DB Lance Byrd, but Lance was in a position to come up and
either tip the ball away or pick it off – only the sun appeared to get right in his
eyes and froze him just long enough to take him out of the play.
No matter, as the Owls came storming right back. Thomas Lott probed the outside for two
big gainers of 11 and 26, and then, aided by a late hit out of bounds, the Owls were
knocking at the door, when a busted assignment on second and six from the UN eight yard
line spelled trouble.
A missed block allowed Pack DE Derrick Kennard to break in and make one of his four
tackles-for-loss on the afternoon, nailing an unprotected Kyle Herm back at the twelve.
Kennard appeared much more animated this game than did his more highly-touted teammate,
all-everything DL Jorge Cordova, who finished with only four tackles on the day.
Of course, the Rice offensive line probably had something to do with those stats.
Still, facing third-and-ten from the twelve, Kyle assayed the Nevada defensive set,
took the snap, made his read, kept the ball and headed for the flag. Owls 17, Nevada 14.
After the Rice defense registered another three-and-out, next Pack possession, and Will
Galusha returned a Derek Jones punt 10 yards to the 33, things were looking up for the
Owls to be able to take a lead into the halftime dressing room.
Things looked even brighter when, on first play, Kyle ripped off a 20 -yard keeper down
the west sideline, where he was nailed in the ankle about five yards out of bounds by the
thuggy, UN DB Nick Hawthrone (who’s not a very good speller, either). The 15-yard,
personal foul flag set up the Owls in business at the Nevada 33 with 6:30 left in the
half.
It was at that point when rookie Owl running back Thomas Lott pulled his only boo-boo
of the day, however.
On an option left, he ran into traffic, but, instead of taking the three
or four yards that were there, he decided to reverse his field and go for the big yardage.
It didn’t work, as he was dumped for a nine-yard loss by Carl LaGrone, and the Rice
drive stalled.
After Nevada’s Derrick Kennard once again nailed Kyle Herm for a six-yard sack on
third down, Jerrod Scruggs punted the ball 46 yards into the end zone, and that set the
stage for an 80-yard drive by the Wolf Pack that gave them a 21-17 lead to take into the
dressing room.
You ain't seen nothin' yet
Thomas Lott breaks outside for more yardage |
But all that second-quarter action was a church social, compared to what came
down after the halftime break.
Rice’s opening third-quarter possession started inauspiciously. Will Galusha,
running back kickoffs as well as punts in the place of the injured Marcus Battle, gamely
bulled out a 31-yard return to the Rice 33. But the Owls were flagged for holding on the
kickoff play and that set them back to their own 13-yard line, 87 yards from pay dirt.
No problem. Kyle Herm got the Owls out from underneath their goal posts with a nifty
sideline thread-the-needle to John Brock for 12 yards and a first down. Then the Owls
mixed the run, with all four backs – Herm, Moore, Lott, and Beck – getting the
call on the drive, each garnering consistent yardage.
A key play on the drive was a 12-yard slant by Thomas Lott on fourth and one from the
Rice 49. On that play, the Owl offensive line executed as well as it has the entire season
-- and it seemed to animate the big fellas; it was as if one could see snorts of diesel
fumes coming from beneath their helmets.
Drip, drip, drip went the faucet until the Owls were facing second and three at the
Nevada 32. Then came the play-action-pass. Kyle hit Joe Moore in the flat and he bowled
over two Pack defenders to take it in for the score.
"He threw the ball on the money," Coach Hatfield noted.
Thus the see-saw teetered once again. Before the quarter would end, 35 points would
have been put up by the two teams, and there would have occurred five lead changes.
After Nevada took the next kickoff and marched 80 yards in seven plays,
Rice got the lead back again – but this time, but not via the offense.
A false start penalty hurt the Owls’ next offensive effort, and Jared Scruggs had
to punt out his second of three efforts of the day. He pinned the Pack back to their 19
yard line, and, first play, QB Jeff Heiser dropped back and zipped a quick opener down the
middle.
That’s when Terry Holley smelled the play, drifted up toward the line, made his
slam-bang interception, and dash 22 yards for the score that put Rice back up, 38-35.
Rice inability to rise to defense caused
consternation on sideline
Brandon Boyd dives for Nevada quarterback while Jimmy
Shaw attempts to shake off block |
As the third quarter waned, the Nevada offense cranked up again, next possession.
There was consternation aplenty on the Rice sideline as the superb Owl offensive effort
appeared to be negated, every time, by a Rice defense that seemed to be wearing leg
weights.
And so, Nevada moved the ball once again. From the Rice 20, Talib Wise took the handoff
and surged up the middle, breaking tackles as he sped goalward, until Raymorris Barnes was
able to wrestle him to the turf at the Rice three.
It was as if a freight train had stopped only briefly to take on fuel. First and goal
from the three, and ace back Chance Kretschmar comes back into the game to perform the coup
de grace.
Only this time, the Owl defense had other ideas. Seconds before, on the sideline, Owl
senior linebacker Brandon Boyd paced the bench, exhorting his defensive
teammates to force "only three-and-outs, from now on." Now, on the field, he
slapped hip pads and grabbed helmets, evincing pledges that the Rice defensive unit would
stiffen, right here, right now.
The pep talk obviously didn’t hurt a bit. On first and goal, Adam Herrin broke in
to body-slam Kretschmer just as he got the ball – a three yard loss, and the bullish
Nevada runner’s first TFL on the day.
Second and goal, and Kretschmer got the call again – but this time, Ross Lassley
and Jeff Vanover combined to stop him cold.
Then on third down, QB Heiser, facing a heavy rush, lofted a pass that was batted in
the line – right back into his own arms. He fell forward for three yards, but it
appeared the Rice defense had stiffened sufficiently to force a mere field goal, this time
around.
As the Nevada field goal kicker lined up, the quarterback kneeled to take the snap and
hold. Something alerted Rice coaches, and Coaches Hinshaw and Farrar sprinted down the
sideline and exploded in yells out to the defense – "It’s a
fake...it’s a fake!"
With the snap, one couldn’t be so sure. Probably was to have been a
fake, as Heiser took it high and wheeled to throw as Clifford Sparks surged in. But Chad
Price knocked away the weak toss to special teams player J. D. Morscheck, and the Rice
defense had held.
Yet the momentum still seemed to lie with the Wolf Pack. The Owls were deep in the
shadow of their own goal, and a play-it-safe scheme, with the resulting punt giving Nevada
good field position once again, didn’t seem to be a particularly fruitful strategy,
what with the way Nevada was chewing up yardage with every possession.
For starters, then, the Owls drew half-the-distance on first down for a false
start. So Rice decided, for sure, to play it conservatively and
trying to wrest out a new set of yard markers or two. First play, Kyle kept and got three
yards. Fair enough.
Next play, he headed left, and made his cut – this time it looked like he could go
for, maybe, seven or eight. But he picked up a seam, juked a linebacker, and suddenly
burst into daylight. Unbelievably, the goal line loomed ahead, "only" 90 or 95
yards away.
The last man between Kyle and open territory was his ‘assassin’ buddy, Nick
Hawthrone, who’d been aiming at the Stanton’s Flash’s ankles all day –
especially once he’d gone out of bounds.
Kyle juked, dodged and shook off El Thuggo, and that was it – he was TD bound. It
was the longest touchdown run in 91 years of Rice football history – if you
don’t count the infamous ‘off the bench’ tackle of Dickie Maegle by
Alabama’s Tommy Lewis in the 1954 Cotton Bowl. Dickie was awarded a touchdown on that
play, and the line of scrimmage, likewise, was the Rice five yard line.
"I thought that was the play of the game on offense," Coach Hatfield said of
Kyle’s recording-breaking (‘tying?’) touchdown run.
Finally some breathing room for Owls -- or
was there?
Chris DeMunbrun led flock of Owl linemen in out-
standing day making holes for running backs and pass blocking |
Finally, some breathing room, huh?
"I knew all along it was one of those games if you could ever get two scores up,
you could win the ball game," Coach Hatfield said.
Well, the Owls were now two scores up. But the suspense wasn’t to be eased, just
yet.
For one thing, the Nevada offense still had another touchdown drive left in them –
and maybe more. On the ensuing possession, they took the ball 66 yards in 10 plays, B. J.
Mitchell storming in from 19 yards out to cut the score to 45-42 with seven minutes
left on the scoreboard clock.
The Owls picked up two first downs on their next possession, but when facing third and
seven at the Nevada 44, the Rice offensive brain trust decided to go for broke – what
the heck –sending fullback Robbie Beck on a post pattern, play-action
pass.
Robbie ran his route well, and the pass was there, but Nevada’s Keone Kauo made a
desperate lunge to bat it away, and the Owls had to give the ball up, with 3:51 left in
the game.
Proving that football is indeed a game of inches, the center snap to punter Jared
Scruggs was high and hard, but he made a circus catch of the ball and recovered to punt it
into the end zone. Nevada had 80 yards to go to win the game, with almost four minutes
left to do it, and all their timeouts left. Along with the setting sun, a sick feeling
descended upon plenty of tummies in the west stands of Rice Stadium.
"They weren’t stopping us and we weren’t stopping them," Pack coach
Chris Tormey said afterwards. "At that point, it looked like we had a great chance to
win the football game."
Sure enough, Nevada cranked it right up. Kretschmer got 4; then 11. Brandon Boyd made
both tackles.
Heiser then threw for seven to Dell McGee, and, next play, Talib Wise, in for
Kretschmer, ripped off a 17-yard run into the secondary. Abetted by a five-yard face-mask
penalty, that gave Nevada first and ten at the Rice 36. Heck, they were already into field
goal territory, and the clock simply was not a factor.
But that’s when Preacher Man was johnny on the spot, and made his
pick-up-and-return of Wise’s fumble at the 31 – a play that Nevada’s
coaches and player’s forever will argue that was down and over when Mr.
Taliban’s knee touched.
But that’s not what the scoreboard said.
"It was a great team effort by everybody – not ever giving up," Rice
defensive hero Terry Holley said afterwards. "This team has come a long way this
year. We've lost some tough ball games we shouldn’t have, and we just had to come
here and get a victory."
Rice’s newest receiving ace, Joe Don Wood, echoed those sentiments. "After
last week we played hard but didn't get the win," he said. "We just played hard
today and new we had to come out and score. We did what we had to do today."
"That's WAC football," mused redshirt running back Thomas Lott. "Midway
through the second quarter, I knew it was going to be a shootout. I said to myself, `We're
going to have to put 50 on these guys to win.' "
Yup, T. That’s what the scoreboard said, too.
Paul T. Hlavinka
Webletter Editor
Rice Post-game SID notes....
- Today's win gives Rice a 2-6 record overall and a 2-2 mark in Western
Athletic Conference play... Rice coach Ken Hatfield is now 48-59-1 in his 10th season on
South Main, and 161-121-4 in his 25th season as a college head coach... The all-time
series between Rice and Nevada is now even at three wins each, the home team winning each
game. The teams will continue their series next season at Reno... Rice returns to Rice
Stadium next Saturday against Tulsa (2 pm CST) in the 2003 Owl Homecoming.
- The two passes to Joe Don Wood were the first cmopletions to an Owl tight
end since Travis Thompson had two catches at Boise State last season. His 22-yard TD
reception from Kyle Herm was the first to an Owl TE since Byron Godfrey had a 50-yard
catch from Chad Nelson at Tulsa in 1997.
- Herm's two touchdown runs were his first of the season and 14th and 15th
of his career. He was responsible for four touchdowns today 9two rushing and two passing,
putting his career total at 30, passing Chad Nelson (29 in 1994-97) for 10th place
all-time at Rice.
- Herm's 95-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter equals the longest and
most famous run in Rice history. Dicky Maegle's 95-yard run in the 1954 Cotton Bowl was
the play in which the Owl runner was tackled by Alabama's Tommy Lewis off the bench.
Maegle's 265 yards on 11 carries in that game remains the Rice single-game rushing record.
- Herm had 331 yards of total offense today, the most by an Owl QB since
Chad Richardson had 334 against Colorado State in 1998. Herm now has 3,910 total yards for
his career, passing Josh LaRocca (3,580 yards in 1991-95) into eighth place.
- Herm's 186 rushing yards today are the most by a Rice player since
Richardson gained 224 against Colorado State in 1998.
- Herm's 145 passing yards on eight completions in 10 attempts are the most
yards by an Owl QB this season, although he combined with Greg Henderson for 173 passing
yards at Hawaii earlier this season. It was his best passing game since he completed 16 of
30 passing for 267 yards as a sophomore at Louisiana Tech in 2001.
- In career rushing, Herm is now at 1,821 yards, good for seventh-place in
school history. He passed '. Spencer George (1,790 in 1993-96), Maegle (1,773 in 1952-54),
Stahle Vincent (1,675 in 1969-71), Yoncy Edmonds (1,647 in 1992-95) and Jamie Tyler (1,642
in 1998-2001) this afternoon.
- Robbie Beck had 45 rushing yards today to put his career total at 1,905,
still good for sixth place all-time at Rice.
- Thomas Lott had his second 100-yard game of the season today with 128
yards on 12 carries. He also gained 101 at Duke in September.
- With Herm at 186 and Lott at 128, two Rice runners gained at least
100-yards in the same game for the 13th time under Ken Hatfield. Owl runners have gained
at least 100 yards in a game 58 times in Hatfield's 10 seasons.
- Terry Holley scored his second defensive touchdown of the season on his
22-yard interception return in the third quarter. He had recovered a fumbled snap on a
Hawaii punt in the end zone on Sept. 27 at Aloha Stadium. It was Holley's first career
interception.
- Rice's 52 points today are the most scored by the Owls since a 59-32 win
over Tulsa at Rice Stadium in 2001.
- The 69-yard return of a recovered fumble by Raymorris Barnes in the
fourth quarter was the first touchdown of the junior's career. It's the second fumble
returned for a score by the Owls this season: Brandon Boyd had an 85-yard return at Hawaii
in September.
- Rice gained 387 yards rushing on 53 attempts this afternoon, a season
high and the most since the Owls gained 404 at Nevada last season. It was the 38th time
that the Owls have rushed for at least 300-yards in a game under Hatfield.
- Rice's 532 yards of total offense is a season-high and the most since the
Owls gained 653 total yards against Tulsa in 2001.
- Today's win was Ken Hatfield's 30th home victory as the Owl coach.
Early Rice-Nevada photos....
A grinning Raymorris Barnes faces TV reporters,
post-game, asking about his 69-yard fumble return for the Owls' game-clinching TD
Terry Holley breaks free and cuts for the goal line after
his huge interception-for-TD in third quarter that put Flock back on top
John Brock comes down with a 29-yard yard reception,
second Rice offensive play -- hey, that was some catch!
Just one play earlier -- as in Owls' first play from
scrimmage -- Joe Don Wood shocks everybody in stadium by coming down with a 29-yard
pass-and-run play to the tight end. A first in Hatfield coaching annals?
Raymorris Barnes threads his way through stunned Nevada
offensive backfield after scooping up fumble. His coaches were yelling, 'fall
down--fall down!' but Preacher took it 69 yards to paydirt to drive stake into heart of
Wolf Pack
Senior linebacker Brandon Boyd makes up his mind it's
time to lead -- after umpteenth Nevada TD drive, he yells out to his defensive unit,
"Three-and-out from now on. You hear me? Three-and-out from now on!"
Kyle Herm slips two Nevada defenders and breaks downfield
for his record-setting, 95-yard TD run
Kyle gets in a word with Stephen Wood after the Owls
opening 80-yard, three-play, all-in-the-air TD
drive. That opening action kind of brought things up-beat on the Rice
sideline
--Paul T. Hlavinka photos
(Lots more photos to come later this week...)
Owls played Nevada on even terms in 31-21 loss in Reno
last year |
'We have our work cut out for us'
Owls seek to defend
home turf against 'Pack
Owlook |
HOUSTON (Oct. 31) – Two weeks ago, Rice Stadium wasn't nearly as
kind to the home team as it typically is in October, as the Feathered Flock was turned
red-faced over a 38-6 lark by the U.S. Naval Academy. The task doesn't turn any easier
this Saturday as the Owls face a veteran University of Nevada team that's picked up three
wins on the road thus far this year, including a 28-17 shocker over the University of
Washington three weeks ago.
With the Navy loss, Rice fell to 12-3 in October home games under Ken Hatfield -- still
not too shabby a mark, and still one to remind foes that the Owls have tended to protect
their nest quite adequately, once they round into mid-season form.
But while the Owls played Nevada basically on even terms in a 31-21 loss in Reno
last year, the Wolf Pack returns of pack of starters while the Owls are relying more and
more on underclassmen as the weeks roll by in what thus far is turning out to be an
eminently forgettable season.
"We're at a point of playing a good Nevada team coming in here," Coach
Hatfield told press earlier this week. "A couple of weeks ago, they went to
Washington and defeated them soundly. We have our work cut out for us."
"They had 19 starters returning, the most of anybody in the conference.
We've always had good games with them. We're looking forward to being better, and looking
forward to playing at home and being at our best."
The Owls seemed to turn a corner last week in their narrow, 31-28 road loss to
Fresno State. But it likely will take the Owls’ best effort yet to defeat Nevada,
which is coming in with a balanced offensive attack that's almost impossible to shut down
completely.
Coach Hatfield said he and his assistants are only too aware of the diverse
nature of Nevada's offensive game plan. "There's no doubt about it -- no doubt about
it," Coach said. "They run the ball; they throw the ball. I think they average
160-some yards rushing and about 220 passing, something like that. They're doing a heck of
a job, and they have a good, balanced attack."
That offensive attack currently is led by Pack junior quarterback Andy Heiser.
Recently when Heiser was replaced at quarterback against UNLV with early- season starter
Jeff Rowe, he appeared to have lost his job. Now with Rowe out for the remainder of the
year with a separated shoulder, however, Heiser doesn't have to look over his shoulder to
see who is chasing him for the top signal caller position.
He responded in sterling fashion by throwing for 299 yards on 19-29 with three
touchdowns and one interception in Nevada’s win over Washington– the Pack’s
first win ever against a BCS school. It was a career day for the junior from Santa Clara.
But he topped that last week with 315 yards passing and 39 yards rushing against Louisiana
Tech for 354 yards total offense, a career-high.
Kretschmer returns for what seems like about seventh year
Nevada’s rushing attack is led by junior HB Chance Kretschmer, who two
years ago was just the second freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in rushing with
1,732 yards. Kretschmer went down with an injury last year, and his totals are down
somewhat this season ("only" 834 yards in eight games), but he remains both a
deadly breakaway threat and a near sure thing for short yardage when the chips are down.
He’ll get his yards on Saturday.
On the defensive side, the Wolf Pack attack begins with senior end Jorge
Cordova, who happens to be the leading tackler in the WAC, second in the nation in sacks
(11) and sixth in the NCAA in tackles-for-loss (15.5). He's ably accompanied by senior
tackle Derek Kennard, Jr., who is 10th in the NCAA in sacks (8.5) and adds 11.5
tackles-for-loss. Cordova is on the Watch List for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and is an
All-America candidate.
For the first six games the Wolf Pack defense was among league leaders
statistically, after giving up a passel of points last year. But then came last
week’s homecoming bout with Lousiana Tech..
Nevada gave up 490 yards and 42 points.in the offensive shootout against the
Bulldogs. "We got off to a good start, but then they were able to establish the
running game, and you've got to give Louisiana Tech all the credit for that, because it
was the difference in the game," Nevada Coach Chris Tormey told media earlier this
week. "We didn't defend the run the very well at all last week, and that's something
we've got to do better this week, especially against a team like Rice."
Coach Tormey says he prefers to have an off week before he plays Rice, "to
switch gears." In previous years the Nevada staff employed bye weeks early in the
season to prepare for Rice even though the Rice game was not the next one on the schedule.
"We don't have that opportunity to do that this year," Tormey
observed.
Rice defense can't focus on either run or pass with Nevada
As for Rice’s defensive game plan, this is one week where there’s no
luxury available in concentrating on the pass or the run. "Against Nevada, you've got
to play both," Coach Hatfield said.
"Fresno was a team that went in, they were going to try to run the ball,
probably if they had a chance 80 per cent of the time. And it turned out they did; they
ran reverses for two big plays. But I thought we did a good job on their running attack
for most of the game. This team will be a lot more balanced than Fresno. They've got two
or three receivers in the NFL now, you know, the (Nate) Burleson kid and some others. They
always have some good skill people."
Rice should be near full strength for Saturday's game. Linebacker Jeff Vanover,
running back Thomas Lott and punt returner Will Galusha are were in practice this week
after missing last week's game at Fresno State with injuries or illness.
With Kyle Herm’s return to full speed, and the blossoming of freshman
running back Quinton Smith with his 142-yard rushing performance at Fresno Saturday, the
Owls stand to be in a position to return to the old, grind-‘em-out style of play that
has served them best during the Hatfield era. They’ll want to hold onto the ball
Saturday, for sure.
Against that, the Wolf Pack can look back on the fact that, after their
penultimate loss this season, a 16-12 squeaker at home to UNLV in their annual battle for
the Fremont Cannon, the Pack proceeded, the next week, to hit the road for Seattle and
take the big win over Washington.
So will last week’s home upset loss to LaTech produce a similar outcome
Saturday in Houston? "The last time this happened to us we had a great win the
following week," Coach Tormey observed.
Yeah, and we know how much precedent like that counts in the wacky world of WAC
football.
Nevada
offensive preview....
Nevada defensive
preview....
'I never doubted our preparation going into the game at Fresno. The environment is
a very hostile environment, and I thought our guys handled it extremely well'
'I thought we’d played maybe one of the poorest games since we've been here,
last week against Navy'
'The second and third drives of the game were the only times that we went three and
out'
|
' I knew we were ready to play'
Silver lining found in
clouds over Fresno
HOUSTON (Oct. 28) – There’s no doubt that last-minute, what-if,
if-only losses like the one the Owls suffered at the hands of Fresno State last Saturday
can be excruciating – both to Rice’s die-hard fans, their coaches and players
alike.
Yet, as dark and cloudy as the 31-28 loss to Fresno was to the 1-6 Owl team and its
supporters, it didn’t come without at least a bit of a silver lining – one that
was apparent to Rice head coach Ken Hatfield by the time his Monday press briefing rolled
around.
After a home loss to Navy that has to go down as one of the low spots of the Hatfield
era, expectations were that the Owls wouldn’t have a prayer of staying in the game
before a hostile crowd at Fresno. But they did. In fact, they should’ve won it, by
any measure.
So how’d they manage to get from Point A to Point B?
"I want to say that I think our team, our senior leadership in practice
last week was as good as we've ever had," Coach Hatfield told press Monday. "I
thought we’d played maybe one of the poorest games since we've been here, last week
against Navy --the first half especially. Because we're so young, we were tentative."
So the Rice coaching staff and the senior players decided to go back to basics.
"The biggest thing we were trying to do was to be aggressive and make
something happen over there when we went to Fresno," Coach said.
"I never doubted our preparation going into the game at Fresno. The
environment is a very hostile environment, and I thought our guys handled it extremely
well. I knew we were ready to play."
"We got a good kickoff; we got a good tackle on ‘em; three plays later
we get the intercept; the turnover. And then we shoot ourselves in the foot, have two
penalties, but Quinton Smith on third and 19 just takes off and shows a different gear,
than I think anybody knew he had -- anybody from Fresno, anyway," Coach
Hatfield said, grinning.
"That first score, that early in the game, in that environment, just gives
you that much more confidence in your capabilities, and we had that, I think, the rest of
the game."
The Owls indeed scored first after securing an Adam Herrin pass interception on
Fresno’s game- opening possession – a season first for Rice.
The Flock immediately gave up a return TD drive to Fresno, and then sputtered
for a couple of possessions while the Bulldogs built a 17-7 lead – but then the worm
turned, and Rice essentially controlled the rest of the game, save for the flubs and
flukes which cost them the victory in the end.
"I think the second and third drives of the game were the only times that
we went three and out," Coach Hatfield observed. "After that, we moved the ball
every time we had it; we made first downs – we only punt twice in the game. If you
can do that in a ball game – I think we had the ball ten times and we punt twice. So
every time we’re in there, we’re moving the ball and everybody believed in what
we’re doing."
Key players had to be left at home with injuries
Several key Owl players had to be left at home, or in any event couldn’t
dress out, because of injuries. And even that eventuality turned out to be something of a
character-builder, Coach Hatfield said.
Redshirt frosh running back Thomas Lott stayed home with a staph infection;
while Clint Hatfield had to sit out the game with a hamstring pull.
True frosh DB and punt returner Will Galusha didn’t make the Fresno trip,
either. "He just had a headache, got the flu, and had a little bit run down feeling
with everything, last week," Coach said.
And Jeff Vanover made the trip, but didn’t suit out – apparently Rice
coaches at least wanted his leadership available on the sidelines for the young Rice
defense.
"We left four or five guys at home and I felt the new guys were going to
have to step up," Coach said. "And they did. Brandon Boyd had one of his best
games ever. Patrick Dendy played a good game at cornerback– did a super job for us.
Quinton Smith, certainly, with 142 yards rushing, had some big, big plays for us. Kyle
Herm earned a champions award by the way he played. Chris DeMunbrun blocked extremely well
– I mean all of our linemen blocked well. When you run the ball that much, you have
to have some good blocking."
Overall, then, he said, the play of these regulars --and irregulars-- went a
long way to give the Owls a chance to win the game. "We didn't win it and that's the
disappointing thing," Coach Hatfield added. "We had three or four chances to
really put the game away."
"When we were ahead by eight points, any one of those chances to put some
points on the board, if we’d had converted, would have done it for us. It
would’ve put them behind two scores and that would have forced them to go into a
little different attack mode than we’d seen."
"Even though we miss a field goal, get one blocked, there was never any
doubt –– the defense came right back, stopped them again, and gave ourselves
another chance. It’s ironic that the only time we lose someone is on the third down
play when Chris DeMunbrun has cramps and has to come out, and we’ve got to put his
backup in there. It’s just one of those things, that we didn’t do as well,
without Chris in there, naturally, because he’d been doing such a great job."
"But I felt that at that point, if we’d ‘a made the first down,
with a minute fifty to go, they would have been out of time outs; we could’ve driven
the ball down and gone down to the last play of the game, either to win it or to go into
overtime."
But it wasn’t to be. As is now painfully well known to even the merest of
Owl fans, Rice missed two, chippy field goal tries – one via the block, one via the
kicker’s shank job under a heavy rush.
Fresno gets back in the game after stripping frosh running back Quinton Smith of
the ball inside the Fresno 35 yard line, and then cranking up a moribund offensive attack
sufficiently to take it in to score.
Then the Owls march again, only to fail on the same fourth-and-one fullback dive
that had scored all four Rice touchdowns in the contest. "Then they hit a big 24-yard
pass to the tight end that got them in field goal range, and they win the game,"
Coach Hatfield glumly summed up.
Owls now know they can be competitive
But, anyway, back to that silver lining part. The Owls now know that they can be
competitive with anyone in the league, on anybody’s home field. The younger players
are growing with every week’s experience.
"I think we’ll take something from this loss," Coach said,
"because it seems that every time the young guys go out, they play with a lot more
confidence, and any time you see that, everyone out there that’s playing will make a
bigger play."
The veteran Rice coach says he can’t remember ever having to play so many
redshirts and true freshmen. The numbers are sobering, he added.
"It's unusual; it’s the most we’ve had in quite some time; again,
younger players – either freshmen or redshirt freshmen – moreso than we ever
have," he observed. "It's just a quirk of it. From next year and from then on,
we'll have more experienced players. Next year, it goes back to about 77 percent of older
players, then the next two years it will be about 90 percent. This year we're at barely 50
percent."
"And so half of this team, at any given time, maybe 30-something players,
is really learning something new every time they go out. And this is the most we’ve
ever had."
"But you have guys like Quinton, a redshirt freshman, going in there and
doing good. Another great guy that we see enjoys going out there is Mike Falco. When you
break a leg the second day of practice, and you’re back playin’, that’s
bein’ tough. He caught some punts this week; he blocked well."
"It was good to see him back out there."
"Every one of the other guys who are playing, they just get better and
better. Andray Downs started his first ball game since he’s been here, at free
safety. He played 51 plays; did a real good job; the first time they ran the ball, the
halfback cut outside, but Andray had the closing speed to get to him and tackle him I
thought that was big."
"Chad Price, another guy, I thought, showed himself as a football player.
In one high school game, as I recall, he had three interceptions – you can see why.
He has a football mind; he has a good knack; he made a lot of plays in this ball game, and
he was another younger kid that I thought played extremely well."
OK, OK, Coach. You’ve just about got us convinced already. Hey, we’ll
be there on Saturday.
Lagniappe...
Having Kyle Herm back 100 per cent provided a bigger lift to the Rice offense than one
might have expected, Coach Hatfield noted – given the conventional wisdom that Kyle
and junior Greg Henderson are of basically equal talent.
"But Kyle’s a senior, and any time you have a senior back in a
critical role and he’s finally healthy," Coach Hatfield posited, "you know,
he knows the time’s running out (on his career). And you want to play all
that you can."
"And I think with a game like Fresno, who gives you a lot of different
defenses, they don’t just sit in there and play one thing – I thought Kyle did a
good job handling the team. And I thought a lot of it had a lot to do with the experience
factor. He's played them a couple of times and he knew that he had to get the right play
at the right time."
"Kyle was able to handle that. We moved the ball. He made some good
pitches, and he kept the ball at some critical times. He also handed the ball to Robbie on
some read-option plays that were outstanding, so – Greg has done a tremendous job,
but Greg has played four games in a row, almost the whole game, too. We still need both of
them."
Of the four starters who missed the Fresno game with injury, at least three, possibly
all four, may be ready in time for the Nevada game Saturday, Coach Hatfield said. Thomas
Lott should be over his staph infection; he should be back. Clint Hatfield should’ve
benefitted from the week’s rest. Will Galusha should be back up and running, 100 per
cent. And if we know Jeff Vanover, as the clock ticks down on his senior year, he’ll
figure out a way to be in the lineup, come kickoff Saturday.
"We’ll have a better idea later in the
week," Coach Hatfield concluded.
With all the protestations Ken Hatfield made about the importance of the kicking game
earlier in the season, after soph Brennan Landry’s failure to convert on two, short
field goal tries Saturday – either one of which might have won the day for the Owls
– you’d think the Head Owl would have Coach Kidd out scouting the soccer fields
for someone who can consistently put the ball through the uprights.
But that man, indeed, is still Frere Landry, Coach Hatfield said
Monday.
The circumstances were extenuating, he implied. Fresno is noted for its heavy
rush. Brennan’s supporting cast is as much to blame as anybody.
"I mean, Landry’s still the kicker," Coach told reporters.
"He makes four extra points that are critical, when we hafta have ‘em. He does
make the first field goal that we try – they jump offsides and we take it off the
board and went on in and score the touchdown."
"He misses the one – but a lot of people missed field goals last
Saturday. The guy at Auburn, against LSU, shanks a short one, too, pulls it left. He
didn’t want to pull it left, you know -- and I don’t think we change
for that reason."
However, Rice coaches may punch Brandon Skeen’s ticket for kickoff duties,
come Saturday, Coach said. "We may give Skeen more of a chance on kickoffs. I
don’t think we’re getting quite enough out of it. Jarrod is doing so well
punting that sometime’s he’s trying a little bit too hard, and doesn’t have
his step down – he hasn’t kicked off as much as Brandon."
"So we’ll let them compete this week for the kickoff chores."
"But, no, Brennan Landry will still have the field goal job and we’ll
just have to do a better job protecting him."
Interview:
Kyle Herm
'I’ve got five games left in my life'
'I hadn’t really played in so long, it felt really good to get back in there and feel
like you can have an impact on the game'
'That was the talk all week, that we were going to get back to the basics and just
try to play some hard-nosed football. And that’s what we did'
'You know, we felt like we’d whipped them up and down the field the whole
game, and then when it comes down, they wind up beating us on a last-second field goal. It
was definitely frustrating'
'I’ve got five games left in my life, you know – and I’m looking to
go out and play 110 per cent every game. I want to win every game. Time’s running
short for all of us seniors, and so we’re going to give it the best we have'
|
HOUSTON (Oct. 27) – Rice senior quarterback Kyle Herm was expected to go
out with a bang this season, but went through the frustration of suffering broken ribs in
the second quarter of the season opener at Houston. Consequently, he had to spend
more time on the shelf than ever he'd had to do since his redshirt year, and that was just
no fun at all. But no sooner than he got over his injuries, he went out and got the
start Saturday at Fresno and, with a 100-yard day rushing and some key support from
fullback Robbie Beck and redshirt frosh running back Quinton Smith, came inches --and
seconds-- from pulling off a shocking upset. "It’s always good when a
senior finally gets a chance to be well," Rice head coach Ken Hatfield quipped
Monday. "You hate it when anybody’s hurt, but for him to come back –
I didn’t think anybody could’ve played a better game. He’s always played
well out at Fresno." So now the Stanton Flash has five more games this season
-- five more in his lifetime, he says -- to create a bigger impression than he has on Rice
fans already. Not that that hasn't been plenty big -- awfully big, for a little old
5-foot-7 guy from Stanton, Texas. Kyle spoke to reporters at Monday's press
luncheon, where he appeared upbeat and in good spirits, having had a day or two to reflect
on Saturday's tough loss.
Q: How did it feel to be actually healthy for a game, for once?
It felt good; you know I hadn’t really played in so long, it felt really good to
get back in there and feel like you can have an impact on the game.
Q: How’d your ribs hold up?
Oh, good, it felt good. Didn’t have any pain.
Q: Was it a case of getting back to basics Saturday, in just running the
ball in your basic option set and trying to execute it well?
Definitely. We rushed for about 400 yards. That was the talk all week, that we
were going to get back to the basics and just try to play some hard-nosed football. And
that’s what we did.
Q: You guys got back into the time of possession battle; you won that
against Fresno. Will it be important to do that again this week against Nevada, with the
balance attack that they have?
Yeah, I think that’s the big thing in our conference. We run up against a
lot of explosive offenses, and the longer we can run the ball, and the longer that we can
keep the ball out of the other team’s hands, the more it helps our defense.
That’s one of the big keys for us, to win.
Q: How frustrating was that fourth quarter?
It was really frustrating. You know, we felt like we’d whipped them up and
down the field the whole game, and then when it comes down, they wind up beating us on a
last-second field goal. It was definitely frustrating to know that we battled all through
the game and did what looked would be enough to win, and then the game ended up the way it
did.
Q: But does your close call on the road give you reason to think the team
will be able to turn this thing around a little bit – you’re still 1-2 in
conference and you have five games left...
Definitely so. I think if we put out the same kind of effort that we had
Saturday; if we execute the way we did, there’s no reason we won’t be able to
turn around these last five games.
Q: In years past, the team hasn’t been competitive at Fresno. Was there
a point in Bulldog stadium Saturday, when you looked around and there were 40,000 people
sitting on their hands, and you could say to yourself, ‘hey, we’re being
competitive here...’?
You know, the past two times we’d been in there, we’d gotten beat by a
combined total of 50 or 60 points. It felt good to go in there and do something to have
those fans rattled and make them quiet down.
Q: Did you feel like you were in a zone out there against Fresno – you,
or the offense in general?
We all had the confidence, we felt like we all were playing together as a unit
for once, this year, and it felt really good. We felt we were executing the best
we’ve done all season.
Q: What do you think figured in the change?
Well, we had a really good week of practice last week, and I think a lot of
people just re-focused, and thought to themselves, ‘you know, we’re a whole lot
better than what we’ve been showing.’ We knew it was time for us to turn it up.
Q: Will you and Robbie Beck take it upon yourselves to take the younger guys
aside and get them to dedicate themselves to turning it around with five games left in the
season?
I’ve got five games left in my life, you know – and I’m looking
to go out and play 110 per cent every game. I want to win every game. Time’s running
short for all of us seniors, and so we’re going to give it the best we have.
It seems like we just showed up here on campus the other day, as freshmen -- but
we can look at the schedule and see that we’ve only got five games left in our
careers. We’re going to try to get out and win all five of those.
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